How many times have you checked your bank account at the start of the semester and felt on top of the world with a fresh semester, fresh budget, and unlimited social events on the horizon? Now, how many times have you looked at your account near the end of the semester and scratched your head wondering where it all went? Most students – by the end of semester – all live by the same motto: “I can’t tonight, I’m broke”. It’s an age-old dilemma that we have all faced, yet very few people have found the answer. Luckily, it’s the end of my third semester at the University of Tennessee, and I think I may have just cracked the code on how to not starve during finals week.
Step 1: The Balance Beam
Yes, the dreaded word everyone throws out the window by the second week of classes: “balance”. It is very important, though, for financial prosperity.
Let me use my life for example. The first six weeks of school, I decided to have an unlimited budget every week. Although I was on the school meal plan, I decided the best way to get my fuel in was to eat fast food half of the days. As you can imagine, this makes the budget recede quite quickly.
So now you might be asking: “How do I ‘balance’ my budget?” I have come up with the “Fifety-Two Rule”. The Fifty Two Rule is quite simple. 5 days a week, you don’t touch your account. No eating out, no pointless expenses, etc. Then 2 days a week… have fun with it. I mean, you just went 5 days without spending – you might as well reward yourself!
This does require staying organized, as there will be weeks that you have plans for 3 days, or someone will text you last minute. It isn’t a perfect rule, but then again what rule really is?
Step 2: Budgeting the Balance
When you have mastered the Fifty Two Rule – or you have come up with a balancing rule of your own – it is time to find the best way to budget that balance. I try to limit it down to spending 2 days, but if you blow through a ton of money those days, it destroys the purpose of creating a budget.
Look at what is in your account, especially if you do not have a source of income throughout school, and divide it by the weeks of the semester. Ex: 4000/18= 222 per weekend
Round it down so you have a cushion for unexpected expensive weeks or trips. Ex: $200 per weekend saves $20 per week. Leaves roughly $360 in your budget
Check in every couple weeks to see if you are over or under spending… Hopefully under.
This balance gives you the scaffolding of how to go about the semester to keep you honest, while still making the most of your college experience. Throughout the semester, this has really helped me understand how to stay on pace with spending. The reason I call it the scaffolding is because it won’t do the work for you. It is still a responsibility to stay on pace.
Tying it in
Budgeting is hard, but balance is harder. The balance is where I have found the most difficulty maintaining, because it can be hard to say no to fun plans – especially with all of the opportunities in college. That’s why I simplify my budget down to a two step plan. Don’t over complicate things. Don’t make it life or death. Just create a frame to keep yourself honest. There are enough things in college to worry about – especially at the end of the semester. At least after these tips, you hopefully won’t have to worry about how to get your next meal, or you can splurge on a 2 dollar red bull to get you through studying.
